How do you work on your guitar?

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 6 Aug 2002 1:00 pm

I have seen many pictures depicting guitars turned upside down on work benches covered with carpet, etc. This configuration would mean the guitar is resting on the tuningkeys/roller-nuts/changers.

Is this how most people support the guitar when working on the undercarriage? How do you support your guitar when making these kinds of adjustments?

Rob Segal · Post by **Rob Segal** » 6 Aug 2002 1:30 pm

Mark, I suggest making a U-shaped assembly of soft wood. The middle of the U would sit on the bench. The 2 up-standing legs will support the guitar, up-side-down, along the top of the cabinet's outside edges (alongside the necks), making contact from around the 3rd fret or so up to the 15th or so (at which point the neck starts to swell). Soft wood like pine, padded if you prefer, will not mar the guitar. The strings are free to be played, so you can tune at the keyhead or changer while you are re-rodding. The changer is will protected this way.

An alternative way of supporting the guitar while working on it is to put a towel on a table and stand the guitar, with legs installed, on its non-changer endplate. This will allow you to work on the bottom and check tuning as well, though it's more of a quick and dirty way of solving the problem.

Rob

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 6 Aug 2002 3:44 pm

don't hold it against me if i do it this way
i just lay down on my back like i was workin' on my roadster.
Steel love gettin' down underneath...

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 6 Aug 2002 4:18 pm

Mark -

If I'm doing some heavy duty re-rodding and the like, I'll lay a large towel on the floor in our living room, where the carpeting is the thickest. Then I turn the guitar upside down and lay it on the towel.

For final adjustments and little tweaks, I like to lay under the guitar, like our brother from France. You can get all the little clicks and noises out much better that way.

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Lee, from South Texas

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 6 Aug 2002 4:58 pm

Normally I put a soft towel on the work bench for the underneith work, although I've spent some time on my back looking up, usually on stage or at a session. And when I need to hear the strings and tweak the mechanism I stand it up on the keyhead end of the guitar on the bench so I have access to the tuning keys, strings, nylon adjusters and mechanism and I can have my tuner plugged in.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 6 Aug 2002 6:05 pm

2 or 3 layers of towels on a workbench and final tweaking laying underneath.I got to where I could simultaneously work on my steel and drink beer while laying on my back - but watch out for falling knee levers and vise grip pliers.I got a black eye that way once. -MJ-

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 6 Aug 2002 6:17 pm

Or, you can just flop it upside down on the bed, if you catch Mama not looking!
But put a towel under it. [The guitar not the bed.]

On second thought...use the bed in the guest room.

Well, maybe you oughta just build yourself a jig.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jerry Overstreet on 06 August 2002 at 07:34 PM.]</p></FONT>

rhcarden · Post by **rhcarden** » 6 Aug 2002 6:35 pm

I work on mine in the case!

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Bob Carden 66 Emmons P/P 8/9
BMI 13 string 7/7

LARRY COLE · Post by **LARRY COLE** » 6 Aug 2002 7:31 pm

How do you see thtough the lid?

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LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

Bob Mainwaring · Post by **Bob Mainwaring** » 6 Aug 2002 10:42 pm

What I've done in the recent past is to work on the guitar with the end plate opposite the changer on a piece of carpet, this way all the pedal/knee lever changes can be made and viewed; the right leg (now the top) only has to be removed to allow access.

Bob Mainwaring. Z.Bs and other weird things.

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William Steward · Post by **William Steward** » 7 Aug 2002 6:04 am

Mark--good question! I had been supporting mine in the case and wondered about building some kind of jig with plywood and carpet. I have to work on my own as an act of desparation since there is no one between here and Florida that I know of to fix them. I am grateful to Carter Guitars for putting up those informative maintenance webpages. I have one tuning nut which is a bit stripped out inside and need to change that...anyone know who sells parts for old MSAs? (mine is about 20 year old S-10). At worst, I have a good local machine shop that has made me a few parts.

Joerg Hennig · Post by **Joerg Hennig** » 7 Aug 2002 9:49 am

Three mattresses on top of each other, of the modern kind that won´t flex easily, that I use as a combined bed/sofa. I put a heavy cotton blanket, which I also use to cover the guitar when not played, on top of them, put the guitar on it, place a strong light where I need it, sit or kneel on a cushion on the floor and go at it. Advantage: I won´t have to lift the guitar as high as if it were a table (less back trouble). This thing is rigid enough to not give in under the weight of the guitar but, by the nature of the material, can´t damage anything.
Sometimes, when I´m too lazy to turn it over, I´ll do minor adjustments from underneath, like CrowBear, but I mostly can´t see too well from that position and, due to space limitations in my room, it almost turns into acrobatics.
Regards, Joe H.

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 7 Aug 2002 10:55 am

I leave it standing on it's feet and just like Crowbear, I'm sitting or laying under it.

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud Pro III Custom; Sho-Bud LLG

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 7 Aug 2002 5:35 pm

I have a quilt that I double up and lay it on the coffee table. Some adjustments I make while the guitar is upright but most work is done upside down on the quilt.

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Carter D10 9p/10k
Richard Sinkler

Jody Sanders · Post by **Jody Sanders** » 7 Aug 2002 8:58 pm

If my guitar gets sick, I carry it to DR. Bobby Bowman. Jody.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 8 Aug 2002 4:29 pm

MIchael J., longnecks? Be hard to drink out of cans lying on your back, huh?
Seriously Mark, a jig is pretty easy to build...I used 3 pcs. of 2x4 and sized it so it just fits the front and the ends. There's not much room behind the tuning pegs or the bridge but it has worked for me on at least 4 different guitars....I used 1 1/2" drywall
screws to attach the end pieces so all you do is move one of the ends to make it fit another guitar. I used ozite to cover the pcs. but you could use carpet or velvet.
This supports your guitar and lets you reach under and pick the strings for tuning the rods.
Best of Luck!

Gil Berry · Post by **Gil Berry** » 14 Aug 2002 4:04 am

...three mattresses? Sounds like a nursery rhyme something about a pea and some king or other......just kidding. I work on mine on a towel (to protect the carpet) on heavy soft carpet. A jig would be better, but I'm too lazy to build one.....

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 15 Aug 2002 11:44 am

Like, Jerry , I use blocks of 2x4s on the ends and in the front.

It holds real good, but you have to watch those ends, not much room there.

That way like Jerry, I can pick the strings underneath to check the tunings, etc.

I am always changing tunings. Done it a hundred times...al

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 15 Aug 2002 12:15 pm

When I posted my original message I was curious how others were approaching this - I had actually already built a jig as I didn't like the idea of having the guitar resting on the tuning machines/nut/changer.

My jig supports the guitar at the end plates. Not much room there (not ANY on some guitars), but it works for the Mullen and Emmons.

Rob Segal's suggestion of support at the front and back of the top deck makes a lot of sense, too. More of a "universal" application.

Here's a link to a couple of drawings. (Hope they look OK on your screen!) The "End-to-End" jig is the one I built. The "Front-to-Back" is my interpretation of Rob's idea. The slots and bolts allow for adjustment. (I wanted to draw wing-nuts, but couldn't in Visio.) The shaded areas I covered with that self-stick felt stuff you put on the bottom of lamps, etc. If you build these, keep in mind to adjust the dimensions of the vertical supports to allow for the difference in height of the front and back decks and the difference in height created by overlapping the two pieces of the jig. This will keep the guitar nice and level when on the jig. Also make sure you leave enough room to reach under and pick the strings. I built mine out of nice 3/4" birch plywood.
http://members.aol.com/mherrcat/jig/guitar_jigs.html

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 15 Aug 2002 12:31 pm

I'd recommend using a cut up rubber mat or inner tube instead of felt. Rubber will also protect your finish and won't trap metal shavings or a string end that could put some really bad gouges in your guitar.

Joe Smith · Post by **Joe Smith** » 15 Aug 2002 12:40 pm

Guys this brings up one other point. When I haul my guitar in the case, I always lay the case lid side down. This way the guitar is resting on the bottom of the cabinet instead of laying on the keys and changer. Mayby it won't make a difference, but I just don't like the idea of my guitar bouncing around on the key heads and changer.

As far as working on my guitar, I set it on a couple of towels that have been folded and laid on top of a soft rug.

Jeff Coffell · Post by **Jeff Coffell** » 18 Aug 2002 12:01 am

Get yourself a Zumsteel and you don't have to worry about working on it. Gee, what a smart -$$ I am.

Just kiddin

Jeff